Home sales were especially hot in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes in August, helping propel total sales across the eight-parish Capital Region up 5.7% compared to the same month last year, according to new figures from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors.
A total of 914 homes were sold across the region in August, up from 865 sold in August 2014. The average sales price, at $218,995, was up 5.9% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, inventory shrank by 16.7% to 3,635 homes on the market in August. During the month last year, 4,366 homes were on the market.
Sales in East Baton Rouge Parish rose 11.7% in August to 495, while Ascension Parish recorded a 9.2% uptick in sales to 167. Livingston Parish bucked the trend, posting a total of 169 home sales last month, a 9.1% decline. GBRAR reports also include figures from West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes.
The local real estate picture is one firmly in a seller’s market by the months supply measure, or the number of months it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at the current sales pace. Realtors typically view any reading of months supply below six months as reflective of a seller’s market. Last August, the measure was 5.9 months. This August, it was at 4.4 months.
Eight months into the year, home sales across the eight-parish region stood at 6,603, up 7.4% over the 6,150 homes sold through August last year. Access the complete report from the GBRAR.
—Steve Sanoski
